Hello, I am a new member to this forum and i have a few questions to ask. I am sixteen years old and seem to have fallen in love with wooden boats. I have built one sailing dinghy and am working on another. My knowledge of traditional sail is fairly extensive. I would dearly like to find a job or apprenticeship on a wooden boat, be it a charter or a private endevour. It was my hope that i could find a job for this upcoming summer working on a wooden ship/boat. I am willing to travel anywhere in the US. I have very limited money resources, so it would have to be either a paying job or an even exchange for room and food. Is this a realistic goal, and if so, where could i look to find a job like this?
~Thanks

Garett, your idea is not too far out there, but I would not count too highly on someone being willing to fly a 16 year old across state lines and offer him a job. That said, check out Wooden Boat magazine for some of the wooden boat schools. You do not say where you are, so I can't really make any suggestions, but there are allot of very good schools out there for the trade you are persuing. If you are in a harbor town, you might find summer work at the local boat yard. It may not be what you are hoping for, but you have to start somewhere. Good luck.

For starters, i live on the east side of Michigan, which (sadly) isnt renouned for its sailing community. By limited resources i meant that i could probably pull up enough to fly myself anywhere in the US, but not enough to pay to live on a ship. And by the way, i like your quote, i seem to recall hearing it somewhere...

Aloha Garett,
Welcome aboard!! Most the wood boat centers for the U. S. are in Washington State or Maine. As Kai said, Wooden Boat magazine (found in any Borders Book store) has lots of listings for schools and yards. Check it out.
Good luck to you. I loved my old wood boat and was sorry to let her go.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

There are a few tall ships that run the West Coast, Lady Washington comes to mind. There are also similar programs on the east coast. Not sure if there is anything in the Great Lakes, but these ships might be able to provide what you are searching for. As for basic seatime, look into some of the Sea Scout programs. Not allot of them around, and active, but a few are, and many have sailing vessels. The Scouts are responsible for the upkeep, and operation of these vessels. We had such a program out here, and my step son benefitted greatly from it. Unfortunately, lack of participation brought that group to an end. If you are close enough to one of the lakes, you might find a yacht club with a youth sailing program. Undoubtedly, they would welcome a participant that was willing to help maintain the boats. Hope this gets you started.